Cuba

By Gonzalo López Martí   –  LMMIAMI.COM

• Some 10 years ago I was employed by a major multinational advertising conglomerate.
• Under the wing of said conglomerate, I was part of a small team of opportunists –I mean, professionals- with the task of opening an ad agency in Miami to cater to the US Hispanic & Latin American markets.
• New York City had been initially considered but ultimately Miami was selected as the best location.
• It just so happens that one of the head honchos of said conglomerate at the time confided in my then boss that he and other head honchos sensed new winds blowing in Cuba.
• Would we be interested in opening an ad agency in La Habana, funded & branded by said global conglomerate?
• I’m not one to name names but the big conglomerate I’m talking about is WPP, the head honcho was Bob Jeffrey (JWT’s CEO at the time) and my then boss was Ignasi Puig, founder and CEO of WPP’s *S,C,P,F…
• As you can imagine, if these folks were talking about it 10 years ago, the recent events in US-Cuba diplomatic relations certainly did not take them by surprise.
• They are ready to go in.
• They’ve been ready for quite a while.
• Talk about strategic thinking.
• Now that’s taking the long view.
• Which begs for the question: are WE ready?
• I mean, us.
• The Cuban diaspora, Cuban Americans, Latinos in general.
• Not international conglomerates headquartered in Dublin to dodge taxes.
• Do we have the balls, the vision or simply the curiosity to go in and stake our territory.
• We spent over half a century waiting for them Langley spooks to put a bullet in the Castros’ heads.
• A plutonium pill in their coffee.
• En explosive Cohiba Robusto.
• Something, anything.
• Well they didn’t.
• Maybe they never even tried, it was all a ruse.
• Who knows.
• If we want something done, whining or latching onto somebody else’s coattails is a recipe for disappointment.
• We gotta do it ourselves.
• Whatev.
• History will tell.
• In any case the Cuban revolution is about to become the stuff of song and legend.
• A bad nightmare.
• It is a matter of months, maybe weeks, until old age does its job and comfortably deposits the bearded bros six feet under.
• Fact is, Cuba is being removed from the list of terrorist countries as we speak.
• The embargo will be pulled soon.
• What should we do now?
• Trade.
• The island needs infrastructure, technology, know-how.
• We need, err, cigars.
• Rum.
• Peloteros.
• Physicians.
• An antidote to February’s suicidal fantasies & cabin fever experienced by most dwellers of the continental USA.
• Frank del Río, recently appointed CEO of Norwegian Cruisle Line, says Cuba could easily become one of the world’s top ten tourist destinations in less than ten years.
• Hey, if the idea is simply to turn Cuba into a big cruise ship or a succession of strip malls with quick service restaurants, well, we’d better take a step back and think twice.
• We must lead the charge ourselves.
• I mean we Hispanics.
• Or we can sit on the sidelines and watch others do it.
• Canadians, Europeans, Chinese.
• Of course Canadians, Euros and Chinese have all the right in the world to invest, do business and move to Cuba.
• It’s called freedom.
• It’s the very reason of this entire half-a-century-long snafu.
• But it’d be a shame to let them beat us Latinos to the punch.
• I’m not Cuban, should you ask.
• I’m Argentine.
• Or Argentine American, to be precise.
• We Argies have a long track record of meddling in Cuban affairs.
• Exhibit 1: Che Guevara
• Exhibit 2: el papa Francisco, who allegedly was a key mediator in the new state of affairs unfolding before our eyes.
• As a footnote, I can add that my wife’s great grand father was Cuban: Osmundo Gómez, a Cuban lawyer and artist who spent part of his life studying and working in Spain, where he painted the dome of the Valladolid Cathedral.
• Hence, my children have Cuban lineage.
• Plus, my last name gives me ample room to stick my nose in all things Cuban.
• Anyway, where was I?
• As I was pointing out: many a hawk’s wet dream of putting a bullet in the Castros’ heads is not an option anymore.
• The black ops slash sicario approach is now off the table (if it ever was).
• We are buddies now.
• Partners.
• Officially.
• Crying over spilled milk is a waste of time & energy.
• To be continued.
• Stay tuned for part 2 of this column.